Banoffee Cupcakes

Here in England it was the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebration last weekend, and as my husband and I were invited to a Jubilee party, I figured I'd better jump on the bandwagon and bake something British! I figured everyone would've eaten their own body weights in Victoria sponge cakes, so I went with another quintessentially British flavour: banoffee. It was supposedly created in the county we live in, too, which is an added bonus!

These cupcakes are a triple threat: firstly, there's the cupcakes themselves, which are rich, fluffy and bursting with banana-y goodness. Secondly, there's the giant glob of gooey caramel hidden in the centre of each cupcake. And lastly, there's the cream cheese frosting - always a crowd pleaser!

For the recipe and lots and lots of step-by-step pictures go to my blog, Cloudberry Dreams.

2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and the caster sugar together until they’re fluffy and light in colour.

3. Add the beaten eggs and mix well to combine.

4. Add the mashed bananas to the mixture and mix gently.

5. Add the sifted flour and fold into the mixture.

6. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cupcake cases and bake in the oven for 20 – 25 minutes (the banana seems to make the cakes take a bit longer to cook!), checking after 15 minutes and removing when the cupcakes are lightly golden in colour and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

7. Once the cupcakes are cooked and having completely cooled, you need to hollow them out to fill them with caramel.

8. Take a sharp paring knife and cut a cone-shaped circle out of the middle of each of your cupcakes.

9. Place a dollop of caramel into the hole.

10. Replace the top of the cupcake so that it acts like a lid to hold the caramel in.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

125g butter, softened

225g cream cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 cups icing sugar

1. Using a stand mixer or electric beaters, beat the butter and cream cheese on high speed for 3 – 4 minutes, until light, fluffy and combined.

2. Add the vanilla and half of the sifted icing sugar and beat for 2 – 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.

4. Place the frosting into a piping bag and attach a large, open star tip. Pipe swirls of frosting onto your cupcakes and decorate however you like. I added some red, white and blue sprinkles and used the cupcake toppers from a decorating kit.